Select Your Own Story

Whether they are the original Choose-Your-Own-Adventures or Pick-Your-Path Adventures, there is something appealing about books with multiple story lines. I think these are riding a wave of nostalgia as parents who read this in the 80s and 90s have kids of their own; the original 1979 Cave of Time by Edward Packard is being rereleased as well. Have to admit that I have no memory of this, although it looks like something my brother might have picked up, if he read books! 

Collins, Tim and Wood, Steven (illustrations)

Traitors in Space: A Pick-Your-Own-Path Adventure 

August 26, 2025 by Aladdin

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This starts with an illustrated list of the many characters onboard a space craft that has just traveled to the moon Titan and is heading back to Earth with samples.They are all ready to head into cryosleep for the journey back when the ship detects as alien life form aboard. This is similar to the time Mission 13 was besieged by aliens, but that ended in tragedy. The characters must work their way through the crew and test to find out who are aliens. There are a lot of puzzles involved, and the answer to these are provided at the back. Since I was reading this on an e reader, there wasn't a good way to choose which path I wanted to travel and go to that page, so I read this linearly. I wish I had counted how many different endings there are (apparently 20). I had a few of these titles when I first started in my library years ago, but they have been weeded on poor condition. This would be a good one to purchase if there is an interest in this format. It's impossible to say more about this in the way of plot because there are so many, so here is the publisher's description:

Catch the aliens before they catch you in this exciting extraterrestrial choose-your-own-adventure featuring illustrated puzzles perfect for fans of the Among Us game.

Imagine you are a brilliant young scientist who has been chosen for a research mission to a distant planet. On your way back to Earth, you are woken early from cryosleep by the ship’s computer. It has detected an alien lifeform, but you don’t see any sign of one.

You look at your fellow crewmates and wonder if one of them has been taken over by an alien intelligence. Can you work out who can be trusted and who the aliens are before they take over your mind too?

Approximately twenty illustrated puzzle missions are woven into the narrative at key turning points for full immersion in the story. Featuring twenty potential endings, gripping plot twists, and atmospheric illustrations, this alien adventure is truly out of this world.

Packard, Edward. The Cave of Time (Chose Your Own Adventure #1)
August 5, 2025 by Choose Your Own Adventure
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Like other E ARCS of Choose Your Own style books, this did not allow me to skip ahead to other pages; I had to read it linearly, which took a lot of fun out of it. The best I could manage was that one path through the Cave of Time took me to a medieval kingdom, one to the days when mammoths roamed the earth, one to space, and one to the Titanic. The most fun scenario was a beautiful house in California with a screen that allows you to watch any movie or program of your choosing! Yes, in 1979, that would have been magical. You could even play games or read books and magazines. I also liked the idea that since 2037 (it's the year 2062), no new roads have been built, only bike trails, paid for by taxes on gas. There are also paths that take you to London in 1940, and one where you get to help build the Great Wall of China. Meeting President Lincoln is another possibility, as is ending up in the year 3742. I lost count of how many different endings there are to the stories; probably at least twenty.

I liked the format of this more than others; it seemed like most "chapters" were contained on one page, which made sense when choosing a direction. Paul Granger's artwork (especially of the king and knights) was very much of its time; think Time for Timer meets Mad Magazine.

Oddly, I never thought of these books as "game books" until I started looking into the history of this series. It's fascinating that they are reissuing this original title. Chooseco has continued to turn out these titles; I even read Bart King's Time Travel Inn back in 2021.

These are not my cup of tea; I dislike games, and feel a need to make every single choice in the book. If you have a similar reader, this would be a good investment; this could last for an entire vacation. I haven't had any of these books in my library for a while, but since this is being reissued with the original cover art, I think I have to buy it. After all, people like me who were 12 in 1979 are soon going to be... grandparents of middle school students!